PASCAGOULA (WLOX) -- Chevron is making a big investment in its Pascagoula refinery to help increase the supply of clean burning fuels.

General Manager Roland Kell unveiled plans for a new pre-commercial plant to dozens of business leaders Thursday at the Chamber of Commerce in Pascagoula.

Kell said the new state of the art plant will be built to test heavy-oil upgrading technology. Fifty new, permanent jobs will be created, and it could help ease the demand for fuel.

"It's got to be a move in the right direction. One the biggest components in price of gasoline is the price of crude. In the last few months, we have seen that $100 a barrel - and we don't control that - is a variable out there in the global market. But this sort of investment directionally has got to help overall supply and demand balance," Kell said.

Kell said the price tag for the plant has not been finalized.

"I'm pleased Chevron has chosen its refinery in Pascagoula, Miss., as the location for testing this breakthrough technology that will potentially increase and upgrade production of heavy oil resources," Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said Thursday in a statement.

"For decades, the Mississippi Gulf Coast has been a key region for energy production, and this announcement is a testament to Chevron 's continued confidence in the quality of Mississippi's work force," he said.